by SCHUYLER DIXON
The Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Texas — The salsa is back, and the New York Giants finally finished when the Dallas Cowboys failed to stop the clock in the final seconds.
Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score to Victor Cruz in his first game in nearly two years, and the Giants beat the Cowboys 20-19 Sunday.
The Giants (1-0) won the debut of coach Ben McAdoo after 12 years and two Super Bowl titles under Tom Coughlin while spoiling the first game for Dallas’ Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott.
Cruz, who missed most of 2014 with a knee injury and all of last season with a bad calf, broke free in the end zone for a 3-yard TD with 6 minutes remaining, prompting his trademark salsa dance.
“You couldn’t even describe what was going through my body,” said Cruz , who had four catches for 34 yards. “Wanted obviously to do the dance. I’m sure I’ve got that down pat.
“Everybody just pulled for me each and every day, each and every week as we got closer to Week 1. And to score a touchdown. You just couldn’t make up a story any better than that.”
Because of Tony Romo’s back injury, Prescott and Elliott were the first rookie quarterback-running back combo to start an opener for the Cowboys since Roger Staubach and Calvin Hill in 1969.
The game ended with Dallas in position for a roughly 57-yard field goal, but Terrance Williams didn’t get out of bounds after a catch and the clock ran out before Prescott could spike the ball.
Dan Bailey had four field goals, matched his career long at 56 yards and had another one from 54.
“The guy was trying to make a play,” Prescott said of Williams. “You never want to knock a guy trying to make a play.”
Randy Bullock, kicking because of Josh Brown’s one-game suspension, made the extra point for the lead after an earlier missed PAT.
New York beat Dallas in an opener for the first time in nine tries.
The Giants’ defense, fortified in free agency, held Dallas after the go-ahead score. Then the Giants emphasized the run to use most of the clock, quite a contrast to last season when questionable clock management contributed to six losses late in regulation or in overtime in a 6-10 season.
Elliott was held to a 2.5-yard average (51 yards on 21 carries), although he had his first touchdown, and the only one for Dallas. Prescott was 25 of 45 for 227 yards.
Manning was 19 of 28 for 207 yards, including a 45-yarder to Odell Beckham Jr. set up the first TD.
Raiders 35, Saints 34: At New Orleans, for Oakland coach Jack Del Rio, calling for a do-or-die, 2-point conversion was less a gamble than a philosophical declaration.
Del Rio had no interest in a conservative point-after kick, and let his offense know it well before the decision had to be made. So when Derek Carr hit Seth Roberts for a 10-yard touchdown to cut New Orleans lead to a single point with 47 seconds left, kicker Sebastian Janikowski stood far from the action, helmet at his side, watching as Carr delivered a decisive fade pass to Michael Crabtree for a 35-34, season opening victory Sunday.
“Everyone knew about our strategy,” said Del Rio, now in his second season with Oakland. “I didn’t really ask for any feedback there. I said, ‘When we score here, we are going to go for 2 and win it right here.'”
His Raiders had already demonstrated considerable resolve just to get to that point.
Oakland had to overcome a 14-point, second-half deficit and a 424-yard, four-touchdown performance by Drew Brees.
“The belief and trust that coach has in us gives us so much confidence,” Carr said.
Brees called the late 2-point try gutsy, but not surprising.
“You’ll see that from time to time. You feel like you have the momentum, and let’s dial it up and let’s win the game,” Brees said. “I could see us doing that.”
After the Raiders took their late lead, they still had to sweat out rookie kicker Wil Lutz’s last-second field goal attempt from 61 yards, which narrowly missed wide left as the Superdome crowd briefly erupted before realizing the kick was no good.
“I thought it was good off my foot,” Lutz said. “The ball moved on me.”
Jalen Richard ran 75 yards for a touchdown on his first NFL carry and Amari Cooper caught Carr’s pass for a 2-point conversion to briefly tie the game at 27 in the middle of the fourth quarter.
But Brees marched New Orleans for another score, highlighted by a 57-yard completion that receiver Willie Snead fumbled and rookie wideout Michael Thomas recovered and advanced to the Oakland 2. That set up Travaris Cadet’s short touchdown catch, giving New Orleans a 34-27 lead.
New Orleans nearly held on, but Saints linebacker Craig Robertson was flagged for interference on a fourth-down pass that sailed out of bounds.
“I’m not going to start the season off complaining about the officials. We have to play better,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “That was just one play.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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